大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Janet Kowalska and been added to the website on behalf of Mrs Joan Willis with her permission. She fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

It was winter, 1942 and I was 18. I lived in Stockport with my parents and worked at Fairey Aviation.

A friend of the family was staying with us. He was a Battle of Britain pilot who had completed his tour of ops and had been sent by the RAF on a series of morale boosting visits to factories involved in the war effort. His job was to encourage the workers to produce more and to make sure that the components were of good quality. He was a very glamorous figure in his uniform and with his distinguished record he was feted wherever he went. One day, I accompanied him as his guest and joined him on the platform while he addressed the audience at Redferns Rubber and Bakelite Company. The workers wanted to honour him (and his guest) and we were presented with bouquets of flowers and small gifts - amongst which was a bakelite ashtray which I kept for many years until it disintegrated. The local press attended and our pictures were in next day's paper.

I was completely overwhelmed by the experience - the glamour of the uniform and the idea of military service. As a result, I joined the WAAF but I have to say that it was not nearly as glamorous as I had imagined! I saw the inside of more aeroplanes at Fairey Aviation than I did in the WAAF but I never regretted joining up. It was a wonderful experience and I made friends with whom I am still in contact to this day. As time goes on, you only remember the good times and less about, for example, queuing up for ablutions in the depths of winter, with only cold water to wash in.

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